The price of DOGE has spiked nearly 10% over the past week, briefly surpassing 11 cents before stabilizing at around $0.105, according to CoinDesk data. Meanwhile, bitcoin has retreated below $76,000 after trading above $79,000 earlier in the week.
The significant rise in open interest in DOGE futures, which now stands at 15.36 billion tokens, suggests that traders are taking on more leverage, reflecting a bullish market sentiment. This uptrend in open interest, combined with the increasing spot price, indicates that new capital is entering the market rather than existing positions being closed, reinforcing the prevailing bullish trend in DOGE. However, this also increases the market's vulnerability to sharp liquidations if the momentum reverses.
Binance, Bitget, Bybit, and OKX are among the top exchanges with substantial open interest in DOGE, with Binance accounting for nearly 3.99 billion DOGE. This widespread participation across multiple venues suggests that the rally is not isolated to a single platform. The surge in DOGE's price follows weeks of sideways trading and a broader resurgence of speculative interest in major cryptocurrencies earlier in the week. According to Jordan Jefferson, founder of DogeOS and MyDoge, several factors may be contributing to the demand for DOGE, including the addition of over 500 million DOGE by large holders, the listing of a physically backed ETP on Xetra by 21Shares, and the positive flows from Grayscale after nine consecutive days of outflows.
On-chain activity has also increased, with active addresses rising by 28%. These developments are significant because DOGE's market structure tends to respond quickly when spot accumulation, derivatives leverage, and retail narratives align. Historically, DOGE has traded more like a macro meme driven by attention rather than a payments asset, with positioning accelerating rapidly once traders believe a familiar catalyst is back in play. While the X payments angle remains a potential factor, it is the least concrete aspect of the DOGE trade.
Elon Musk's announcement of X Money, a payments product with peer-to-peer transfers, bank deposits, a debit card, and cashback rewards through X Payments, a licensed subsidiary partnered with Visa, has sparked speculation. Although there is no indication of support for dogecoin or any crypto functionality in the announced product, DOGE traders may be reacting to the payments-related developments at Musk-owned companies, possibly hoping that the token could eventually be integrated into X's financial stack, driven by Musk's vocal support for dogecoin since 2021.